Working Through The UFO's

I know it's a problem most crafters have; starting too many projects and ending up with a big pile of unfinished objects. Most of mine had ended up stuck behind piles of junk in the conservatory that were put there while we did the flooring in the living room. On Sunday night I felt the need to have a bit of a sort out and I started with the conservatory. After deciding what was junk and what needed to be put away, there was enough space cleared to start working through my craft stuff. I now have all my scraps sorted into two tubs (one for small bits and one for larger pieces). I also tidied my cupboard so all my precuts are organised. I sorted through the bags of projects and managed to empty a couple of bags that were mostly fabric.

The next stage of my plan is to start plodding through the other bags of unfinished stuff. Yesterday I blocked the Harmony Shawl and the Tea Time doily, so that's two finished objects already!

Also yesterday I finished this jar cozy, which is available to buy on Buy British Month on CNA:

There's also some silks available (other sizes coming soon!):

And I have a few yarn bargains listed on there too, so head over and check them out.

Of course I haven't managed to get much else done with the lovely sunshine today. We've been having some bubble fun:

Then lunch included dinosaur sandwiches:

FO Friday: Harmony Shawl

Usually Orla will have a nap for a couple of hours in the early afternoon and I use that time to do some studying as I really need peace and quiet for the latest course. Yesterday though she didn't nap until I was collecting Erin from school. This meant I didn't have chance to study but it also meant I had time to do a "pick up, put down every 5 minutes when I'm needed, don't need to be counting stitches" project!

I had a bit of a browse of the patterns on Ravelry. I was looking for something that was quick to make, wasn't tricky (i.e. didn't need much concentration) and was interesting.

Firstly I stopped on the CloudBurst Shawl by Tuesday Fortnite but then I spotted the Harmony Shawl by Bodhi Sasa. This is a rework of the CloudBurst Shawl, giving it a centre spine and wings. It was the shape of the Harmony Shawl that really appealed to me.

I decided to use some Fyberspates Scrumptious DK, a gorgeous blend of merino and silk, dyed in Blue Lagoon colourway that I bought quite some time ago at Baa Ram Ewe. It's lovely to work with, though winding it into a ball was a pain in the neck. It seemed to keep slipping off and I lost count of the number of times I had to rewind bits.

The pattern itself is very quick to make - it suggests 3 hours max for Worsted weight yarn and an 8mm hook. I used DK yarn and a 6mm hook so I expect mine was a little slower. The only thing it needs now is blocking. If I had a complaint to make, it's that it was easier to follow the chart than the written instructions and I don't often say that! The written instruction refer to the ch-2 space and with the little one around I hadn't taken a huge amount of notice where the ch-2 and the ch-1 spaces were.

I couldn't bring myself to do the fringing, it's not really my style so I finished on a Row 5 repeat rather than a Row 6, did a row of single crochet and then a picot edging.

I would definitely recommend the pattern for last minute gifts.